A Secret Deeper Than Blood
by Skylar Maldwyn
Summary: Her birth name was a curse. Everywhere someone would speak of Vanessa's parents. How her mother was one of the darkest witches to ever live. It was a secret she and the Malfoy's have had to bear and hide, never to let anyone but themselves know. Eleven years later, she is now Vanessa India Malfoy, and she was finally going to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.


"Wake up, Nessie! You're going to miss the train!"

My eyes snap open in surprise and I move to sit up in bed, a little too quickly, however. My feet get caught in the warm sheets of my bed, and the next thing I know I'm stumbling to the wooden floor of my room. "Oww..." I mutter, shaking my ebony locks out of my eyes.

At that moment, the heavy wooden door of my bedroom opens a crack, and a familiar white-blonde head pokes in. A grin spreads across his sharp features, I'm guessing at the sight of me tangled up in my sheets, splayed out on the floor. "Vanessa India Malfoy," my brother says in his best grown-up voice, leaning on the doorframe with his long hands crossed along the bare skin of chest. He wears nothing but a pair of long grey sweatpants, which results in the assumption that he had just risen from bed. "What the honest hell are you doing?"

"Shush, Draco," I mutter, squirming around in my covers as I try to free my frame from them. I finally do so, tripping over my own two feet as I attempt to stand. A grumbling sound escaping my lips as I adjust my white cotton Qudditch World Cup muscle-tee over my black baggy sweatpants, blinking rapidly to make myself wake up.

Draco smoothens his tousled locks, a smirk pulling at his pale lips. "Sissy, do you intend to get on the train today? It's already dawn."

I roll my stormy grey hues, looking towards the dark night sky from my bay window. "You can't see crap in that," I snap, turning to look back at my amused brother.

He pushes his toned body of my doorframe, grinning to walk over to me. "My baby sister; all grown up and ready for her first train ride to Hogwarts." He wipes a nonexistent tear from under his grey eyes; his the exact shade of mine, making our family lie believable. "I'm going to miss you!" he said, bending down to press a kiss to my forehead, his smirk warming into a smile as he ruffed up my pillow-styled hair.

I roll my eyes again, but despite my efforts I feel a smile creep onto my face. "You'll survive; you've got Astoria and Scorpius to deal with, remember?" A girlish-giggle slips from my lips making my brother laugh, taking his lower lip in between his teeth.

"Oh, I'll miss your sense of humour," Draco says, poking my nose with the tip of his left index finger. "Now, go have your bath and get ready. I see you've taken my advice?" he observes, tilting his head in the direction of my desk.

I twist my head instinctively in the direction of his line of gaze, although I already know that my brother's statement was directed at my crisp white button-down school shirt and my black silk slacks. I look back at Draco, nodding my head. "Aye, your reasons were reasonable," I say, shrugging my small shoulders gently.

He sighs, smiling once more at me, but I can see it was much weaker than earlier. He looks to the door, pulling out his wand. With a complex wave of it and a familiar mumbling of words from under his breath, a tinted blue bubble emerges at the tip of his wand, expanding and growing in size until the both of us are consumed in it. I graze my fingertips over the thin surface that prevented anyone from hearing the conversation about to happen. I knew already what my brother was going to talk about; he would only speak about _it_ if the bubble was up.

"Nessie," he said, looking at me as he knelt down in front of him. "Don't ever be ashamed if some asks you about your parents, alright. You are Vanessa _Malfoy. _You're _my _little sister. If anyone points out why you look like her, you just shrug and walk off. You're eleven; you don't need to give them details. Nobody save for Mum, Dad, and myself know about you. And I want no one else to, alright?" His cold gaze pierced mine, searching for my answer as he gently held my upper arms, his wand lightly held between his middle and ring finger of his right hand.

I nod, pressing my lips together. "I promise. You're my brother. Lucius Malfoy is my father. Narcissa Malfoy is my mother," I say, repeating the lines I had been brought up with. I touch the side of Draco's face, just under his high cheekbone, feeling a small smile form on my naturally red lips. "Don't worry, Dray. The secret is safe with me, just as it always will be."

The relief that spreads across his expression would be obvious to a blind man. "Good. I have no guarantee on what might happen to you if—"

"They won't find out," my voice interrupts his statement. Our cold hues both look down at the bare skin of his left arm. His Dark Mark is still there, scarily prominent against his pale complexion. I swallow; the name Malfoy is nothing compared to my birth name. Just as Draco conceals his Mark at all times, I conceal my past. If Lord Voldemort had defeated Harry Potter, I wouldn't have Malfoy to my name, and my left arm wouldn't be bare.

My brother clears his throat, making me tear my gaze away from the skull and snake. "Now, Ness, go get ready for the train, alright? Just forget about those two for your time in Hogwarts. Forget about all the drama; just enjoy yourself. These coming seven years of your life, which starts today, are coming to be the best you'd ever imagine. Put these thoughts aside, and I'll try to do the same."

I nod, simply watching him stand to full height. His waves his wand, mumbling another incantation I would never catch, and the bubble dissolves with a faint _pop_. Draco sighs, looking around my room, a faint smile teasing his pale lips. "I'll let you get ready now, sissy," he said, tousling my messy locks once more before turning on his heel, walking out of my room, his bare feet padding gently on my wooden floor.

A sigh slips past my lips, my tiny fingers brushing my ebony locks out of my stormy tints. I trot over to my bedside, slipping my feet into the bottle green bedroom slippers Astoria had gotten me for Christmas. Faintly, I can hear my nephew Scorpius calling out for Draco, his voice a musical sound. I smile, giggling slightly before slipping out of my pyjamas and wrapping my pure white towel around myself before making my way to my private bathroom to get ready for the train ride, knowing somehow it would change my life.

* * *

A knock comes at my door as I button down my school shirt, adjusting it over my black slacks. "Come in," I say, glancing at the mirror, my Hogwarts school emblem sewn above the pocket on my left chest, standing out against the white cotton material of my shirt.

The door opens, and a brunette woman steps into the my room. She wears an emerald green blazer over a white floaty blouse; her navy blue jeans exposing the four-inched black stiletto heels. Astoria Malfoy, née Greengrass. My brother's wife. She's one of the the most beautiful women I've ever seen, and she's an amazing role model; she's sophisticated, polite, an amazing witch… I admit when I was the flower girl at their wedding I couldn't have been happier for my older brother.

She slips a stray lock of curly hair behind her ear, the rest of her hair in an elegant conch shell braid. Her dark red lips curl into a warm smile, her soft emerald tints looking directly at me. "You look all-ready to go," she says, moving towards me. Her heels clicked on the wooden floor according to her pace, her posture held high. The name Malfoy, no matter how much my father as done for the Dark Lord, is still one of dignity. We're pure-bloods, and nothing can change that.

I smile and nod at her through the mirror, biting my lips gently. I tug at the end of the long Dutch braid my hair is in, retying the elastic to secure the braid. "Yeah, Draco woke me up earlier," I say to my sister-in-law, turning aware from my reflection to the soft chocolatey brown dragon hide satchel on my bed. I open the flap, checking the bag's contents: my handphone, my hardcover copy of 'Quidditch Through the Ages', my black velvet coin pouch, and my 10 1/2 inch ebony wood wand. I'm proud of it's phoenix feather core; it makes me feel different from the rest of my family, whom all have unicorn hair. Except for Scorpius, of course; he hasn't turned three yet, so he has no wand for the time being.

"Anything else you need?" Astoria asks, making her way towards my bed, her long, manicured fingers trailing down one of the mahogany bedposts which held up the canopy. Her green eyes, which my young nephew inherited over my brother's icy gaze, flicker around my room; I assume she's looking for anything I might have forgotten.

I shake my head briskly, smiling some at the tall lady. "Nope; I've gotten everything packed. Draco helped me out with everything last night," I explain, gesturing to my van dyke brown trunk. The gold engraved initials of my name, V. I. Malfoy, shine in the warm amber light of my room. My gaze moves to the window, the dawning sky finally making an appearance as a splatter of pinks, purples, and blues smudge together as the infinite darkness brightens bit by bit.

Astoria nods, following my line of vision as she too looks out the window. A small smile plays on her lips, a dreamy look glazes over her wide eyes. "It will be time for you to go soon," she sighs. "Draco's sanity does really rely on you. I think you were the only person that kept him out of St. Mungo's after that horrid battle. Somehow…you being born just then…it gave him a reason to hang on."

I blink, my eyelashes fluttering. She had never said anything of the sort to me before. Yeah, I knew that my brother went bonkers after Father was ruined in the Ministry after the fall of the Dark Lord. I always thought it was Mother who had done the impossible. "Ria, I-I never knew that," I say, my voice hushed.

Astoria looked back at me, as if she had just remembered I was in her presence. "I just never told you," she simply said, smiling at me. "I've told you before on how I…crushed on your brother through my years in Hogwarts?"

"You told my little sister about your crushing on me in Hogwarts?" I hear a familiar voice say. I turn my head slightly to see a familiar white-blonde man walk in, in his arms a three-year-old toddle who hugs his neck. My nephew looks most like Draco; they both share the same shade of blonde hair, their eye-shape, their thin lips… Only his emerald hues show a trace of Ria.

My sister-in-law blushes some, smiling now at my brother. "Well, my love, it's called _girl talk,_ you see."

Draco places Scorpius on my bed, where he rolls about, giggling. "Can we share love stories with my sister when she's, I don't know, out of Hogwarts? I don't really need her crushing on some Gryffindor," he said, adjusting the black blazer of his all-black ensemble. His hair stays tousled, I'm guessing by magic; his hair never looks that good when he 'misplaces' his wand.

I roll my eyes at my brother's words, shaking my head in mock-disappointment. "Tell me, brother, what happens if I do, somehow, get into Gryffindor instead of Slytherin?"

He frowns, walking over to me before kneeling, his fingers lightly touching my shoulders. "I love you, Nessie. You know that, right? But if you get into Gryffindor, you can find your own way back from the train station at the end of the year."

"Draco!" Ria exclaims.

My jaw drops, and the back of my eyes start to prick. But, to my brother's disadvantage, I see a hint of a smirk playing at the corners of his thin lips. "Draco you arse!" I shout, rolling my eyes as I punch my brother's shoulder.

"Language, Nessie!" my brother says, grabbing me by my waist and lifting me up in the air, a wicked grin spread across his sharp features. He chucks me on my bed, tickling me. "No using that word in front of the toddler!"

I laugh, attempting to squirm from my brother, and I fail tremendously. "Ria! Help!" I call out to my sister-in-law, who just shakes her head, an amused expression layering her face.

After feels like an eternity, my brother walks away with a laugh, still grinning as he walks over to his wide, hugging her from behind. I growl at my brother, running my fingers through the ends of my braid. "We're going to be late," I grumble, slipping off my bed as I slip my satchel over my shoulder.

"You're right," Draco mumbled, kissing Ria lightly on the cheek before pulling out his wand. "Wingardium Leviosa," he said, his wand moving in a gracefully, fluid motion as the trunk then levitates, floating in mid air. "I'll load this up in the car," he said, tilting his head toward the hovering object. "You lot start breakfast without me." With that, he walks out, the trunk trailing behind him.

Ria chuckles, her fingers touching her cheek as I notice her looking as her husband walked off. With a brisk shake of her head, she moves over to the head, scooping Scorpius up in her arms. "Hurry on, Nessa," she says to me, smiling before walking towards the door.

"Ar," my nephew says in his bubbly voice. "Arr…"

I laugh at him, shaking my head as I look around my room.

Then, the bubbly voice forms the word, "Arse."

"Did he just—," I hear my brother exclaim from downstairs. "Oh my god; VANESSA!"

Oops.

* * *

**Hey readers!**

**Thank you so much for coming to read my Harry Potter fanfic. I hope that you'll like the first chapter; hopefully it'll be the first of many!**

**Review please; I'd love to hear your opinions on it!**

**Till my next update;**

**~Skylar Maldwyn xx**


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